Men's Basketball | 1/28/2016 8:31:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (3-12, 3-9 GLIAC) snapped a six-game losing streak last week with a 67-42 win over Lake Erie.  WSU also led 34-29 at the half against No. 23 Ashland but the offense struggled over the final 10 minutes and the Eagles escaped with a victory.  The Warriors finish a stretch of six home games in a seven-game span against Malone (3-14, 0-12 GLIAC) on Thursday before traveling to Walsh (9-7, 7-5 GLIAC) on Saturday and Findlay (12-5, 9-3 GLIAC) on Monday.  Wayne State has played the 10th toughest schedule in the country through games of Jan. 24th as WSU's past opponents recorded a .589 winning percentage.  As GLIAC South Division play continues this week, the winning percentage of the remaining opponents drops to .459 (223rd toughest schedule in DII).

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 2-3 in the all-time series against Malone.  The teams first played in 1977 in the Akron Classic.  The last four meetings have been as GLIAC counterparts, which the teams have split. WSU is 1-1 at home in the series, but Malone won both meetings last season by a combined eight points.

Wayne State trails the all-time series 1-3 against Walsh.  The Warriors have never won on the road in the series.  WSU's only win came at home on Jan. 31 of last season.

WSU also trails 17-27 in the all-time series vs. Findlay.  The teams began playing in 1989 with the Warriors  recording a 3-19 mark on the road.  Coach Greer is 7-23 (0-15 in Findlay) all-time against the Oilers in his 14 seasons with WSU.  However, WSU did win a neutral site game in 2011 during the GLIAC Semifinals.  UF has won the last three meetings.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Former Malone head coach Tim Walker resigned in August leading to Casey Kaufman being named the interim head coach after serving three years as an assistant at the College of Wooster. Just this week, the interim tag was removed from Kaufman's title.  Malone has dropped 13 straight contests and is still searching for its first GLIAC win.  However, the Pioneers have dropped two games by one point and two others by two points including a 69-67 defeat vs. No. 17 Ashland.  Nate Sheppard is the team's leading scorer (17.8 PPG), while Mitchell Spotleson is the squad's top rebounder (7.5 RPG).  Brian Stone is scoring 14 points per night and leads the league with a 74.6 field goal percentage.  Spotleson is averaging 13 points per contest, while Christian Graves and Stephen O' Daniel are both scoringover 10 points per game.

Walsh enters this three-game week of GLIAC play at 9-7 overall and 7-5 in league game, which ranks the Cavaliers third in the South Division.  Walsh had won four straight before a three-point loss at Tiffin on Jan. 23rd.  In his 11th season leading the Cavs, head coach Jeff Young has a 289-76 career record.  Jesse Hardin Jr. ranks fourth in the league in scoring at 20 points per contest, while shooting 45.2 percent from behind the arc.  Teams are shooting just 30.9 percent from three against Walsh, which ranks second in the league.

The top seed in the GLIAC South Division is Findlay at 12-5 overall and 9-3 in the conference. The Oilers have won seven straight games with its last defeat coming on Jan. 2nd at Ferris State (72-69).  Head coach  Charlie Ernst is in his fifth season and is 82-25 in his time with the Oilers.  UF's offense is balanced with seven scoring at least four points per game led by Martyce Kimbrough (14.9 PPG).  Tyler Stern-Tucker is the top rebounder at 5.2 boards per game.  UF is shooting 46.3 percent from the floor, which ranks fifth in the league.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP
Wayne State cruised past Lake Erie, 67-42, on Jan. 21st behind 17 points from Marcus Moore. Moore, who was able to start after missing the previous contest due to injury, drained a long triple just before halftime giving the Warriors a 31-18 lead at the break. Lake Erie began the second half on a 9-2 run before Wayne State answered with a 16-3 spurt over a seven minute span. Clark Bishop led the way with seven points as the Warriors built a 50-30 advantage. The lead was never fewer than 18 the rest of the game. Wayne State battled 23rd-ranked Ashland on Jan. 23rd at the Matthaei, and led for over 25 minutes, but the visiting Eagles outscored the host Warriors 22-15 over the final 11:20 to upend WSU 68-61. Moore tallied a career-best and game-high 19 points, which included three triples, along with seven rebounds and three assists.

IN THE POLLS
The GLIAC released its preseason coaches poll on Oct. 28 and Wayne State was predicted to finish fourth in the South Division.  Clark Bishop was voted to the All-GLIAC South Division Second Team in balloting conducted by the league's head coaches.  The Warriors totaled 99 points, behind Ashland, Findlay and Walsh.

NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
The Green & Gold rank 12th (first in the GLIAC) with 14.6 offensive rebounds per game and 20th nationally (fifth in the GLIAC) in fewest turnovers (191).  WSU's defense is allowing 72.2 points per games, which ranks 79th nationally (eighth in the GLIAC).  Michael Lewis is 46th in the nation and third in the league with three offensive rebounds per game.

UDANOH EARNS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Former Wayne State University basketball standout Ike Udanoh, currently with Bisons Loimaa, was selected as the Finnish League's Player of the Week, for the period ending Jan. 8th.  He had a double-double of 30 points and 15 rebounds, while his team beat Lapua (#9, 6-14) 89-78.  Udanoh was a three-year letterwinner (2009-12) for WSU after transferring from Long Island.  He finished 17th in career scoring with 996 points, seventh in field goal percentage (55.1 - min. 150 made), ninth in blocked shots (63) and 12th in rebounds (584).

REBOUNDING ADVANTAGE
WSU has won the rebounding battle in eight of the 15 games this season, including a decisive 41-18 advantage over Michigan Tech.  WSU grabbed 15 offensive boards in that contest on Dec. 13th.  Those offensive rebounds led to 21 second-chance points.  WSU out-rebounded Ferris State 43 to 41, leading to 18 second-chance points.  WSU hauled in 44 rebounds against Hillsdale and won that rebounding battle 44-42.  The Warriors collected their second-largest rebounding margin of the season against Tiffin, winning the rebounding battle 47-33 (+14).  In the 68-61 loss to #23 Ashland, WSU out-rebounded the Eagles 48-42 including a season-high 24 offensive boards, leading to 26 second-chance points.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Joel Ndondo collected the first WSU double-double of the season at Ferris State on Jan. 3rd with career-highs in points (14) and rebounds (10).  The last Warrior to accomplish the feat was Jamar Ragland (11 points/11 rebounds) on Feb. 22, 2014, vs. Grand Valley State.  Michael Lewis collected his second and third career double-doubles earlier this month.  He totaled 15 points and a season-high 11 rebounds vs. Tiffin on Jan. 14th and 19 points and 10 boards at Ohio Dominican Jan. 16th.

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every men's basketball home game in 2016 will be broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900.  Sean Baligian, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will call the action. 

UP NEXT
Following the two game swing to Walsh and Findlay, WSU will play at Tiffin on Feb. 4th before hosting Ohio Dominican on Feb. 6th.